The Justice Department has formed a Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team tasked with investigating those that provide support to Hezbollah, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Thursday.
The creation of the team follows a report last month that revealed the Obama administration secretly thwarted efforts from the Drug Enforcement Administration to target Hezbollah’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations. The DEA launched “Project Cassandra” in 2008 to investigate the terrorist group, but its campaign occurred alongside the Obama administration’s work on the Iran nuclear deal.
The Justice Department said the new team, composed of prosecutors who specialize in international narcotics trafficking, terrorism, organized crime, and money laundering, will begin by examining the evidence in cases tied to Project Cassandra.
“The Justice Department will leave no stone unturned in order to eliminate threats to our citizens from terrorist organizations and to stem the tide of the devastating drug crisis,” Sessions said in a statement.
The attorney general said the new team will ensure Project Cassandra investigations and others will be “given the needed resources and attention to come to their proper resolution.” The team will work with investigators from the DEA and the FBI, as well as federal prosecutors.
Congressional Republicans have called for information related to the Obama administration’s interference in Project Cassandra, and Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., urged the Justice and Treasury Departments last month to investigate claims the Obama administration derailed the efforts of DEA investigators.
